The design of the linac delivering electron bunches into ten independent soft x-ray free electron lasers (FELs) producing light at 1 nm and longer wavelengths is presented. The bunch repetition rate in the linac is 1 MHz and 100 kHz in each of ten FEL beam lines. Various issues regarding machine layout and lattice, bunch compression, collimation, and the beam switch yard are discussed. Particular attention is given to collective effects. A demanding goal is to preserve both a low beam slice emittance and low slice energy spread during acceleration, bunch compression and distribution of the electron bunches into the array of FEL beamlines. Detailed studies of the effect of the electron beam microbunching caused by longitudinal space-charge forces and coherent synchrotron radiation (CSR) have been carried out and their results are presented.

We present a proposal for performing model-independent jets plus missing energy searches. Currently, these searches are optimized for mSUGRA and are consequently not sensitive to all kinematically-accessible regions of parameter space. We show that the reach of these searches can be broadened by setting limits on the differential cross section as a function of the total visible energy and the missing energy. These measurements only require knowledge of the relevant Standard Model backgrounds and can be subsequently used to limit any theoretical model of new physics. We apply this approach to an example where gluinos are pair-produced and decay to the LSP through a single-step cascade, and show how sensitivity to different gluino masses is altered by the presence of the decay chain. The analysis is closely based upon the current searches done at the Tevatron and our proposal requires only small modifications to the existing techniques. We find that within the MSSM, the gluino can be as light as 125 GeV. The same techniques are applicable to jets and missing energy searches at the Large Hadron Collider.

The electrodeposition process parameters of current density, pulse duration, and cell potential affect both the structure and composition of the foils. The mechanism for nucleation and growth as determined from current transients yield relationships for nucleus density and nucleation rate. To develop an understanding of the role of the process parameters on grain size--as a design structural parameter to control strength, for example, a formulation is presented to model the affects of the deposition energetics on grain size and morphology. An activation energy for the deposition process is modeled that reveals different growth mechanisms, wherein nucleation and diffusion effects are each dominant as dependent upon pulse duration. A diffusion coefficient common for each of the pulsed growth modes demarcates an observed transition in growth from smooth to rough surfaces. Empirical relationships are developed that relate the parameters of the deposition process to the morphology and grain size at the nanoscale. Regimes for nanocrystalline growth include a short and long pulse mode, each with distinct activation energies. The long pulse has the additional contribution of bulk-like diffusion whereas the short pulse is limited to surface diffusion and nucleation. For either pulse condition, a transition from a rough (or nodular) growth to …

We have studied structure and electrical properties of Si{sub 1-Y}Ge{sub Y}:H films deposited by low frequency PE CVD over the entire composition range from Y=0 to Y=1. The deposition rate of the films and their structural and electrical properties were measured for various ratios of the germane/silane feed gases and with and without dilution by Ar and by H{sub 2}. Structure and composition was studied by Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. Surface morphology was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM). We found: (1) The deposition rate increased with Y maximizing at Y=1 without dilution. (2) The relative rate of Ge and Si incorporation is affected by dilution. (3) Hydrogen preferentially bonds to silicon. (4) Hydrogen content decreases for increasing Y. In addition, optical measurements showed that as Y goes for 0 to 1, the Fermi level moves from mid gap to the conduction band edge, i.e. the films become more n-type. No correlation was found between the pre-exponential and the activation energy of conductivity. The behavior of the conductivity {gamma}-factor suggests a local minimum in the density of states at E {approx} 0.33 eV for the films grown with or …

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Cellulose, a key component of the plant cell wall, comprises the most abundant source of organic carbon on the planet and its microbial degradation is of considerable biological and industrial importance. Indeed, the microbial degradation of cellulose and other plant structural polysaccharides is critical to the maintenance of the carbon cycle in terrestrial and marine microbial ecosystems, host invasion by several phytopathogens, and herbivore nutrition. While the enzymes that attack cellulose are already widely used in several biotechnology-based industries, the major future application of these biocatalysts is the conversion of plant biomass into bio-ethanol and other forms of energy. In that context, the 2007 Conference will present the latest breakthroughs in our understanding of the enzymology, structural biology and (meta)genomics underpinning the conversion of plant structural polysaccharides into fermentable sugars, both in natural and engineered processes. There is also an increased emphasis on the roles of other carbohydrate active enzymes in plant biomass conversion. The themes for the scientific sessions include: (1) crystallographic and biochemical analyses of enzyme structure and function; (2) molecular mechanisms underpinning enzyme catalysis, processivity and specificity; (3) functional and comparative analyses of carbohydrate binding modules and enzyme-substrate interactions; (4) directed evolution for the development of catalytically …

The applications of resonant soft X-ray emission spectroscopy on a variety of carbon systems have yielded characteristic fingerprints. With high-resolution monochromatized synchrotron radiation excitation, resonant inelastic X-ray scattering has emerged as a new source of information about electronic structure and excitation dynamics. Photon-in/photon-out soft-X-ray spectroscopy is used to study the electronic properties of fundamental materials, nanostructure, and complex hydrides and will offer potential in-depth understanding of chemisorption and/or physisorption mechanisms of hydrogen adsorption/desorption capacity and kinetics.

Two high-pressure bioassay vessels failed at the Savannah River Site during a microwave heating process for biosample testing. Improper installation of the thermal shield in the first failure caused the vessel to burst during microwave heating. The second vessel failure is attributed to overpressurization during a test run. Vessel failure appeared to initiate in the mold parting line, the thinnest cross-section of the octagonal vessel. No material flaws were found in the vessel that would impair its structural performance. Content weight should be minimized to reduce operating temperature and pressure. Outer vessel life is dependent on actual temperature exposure. Since thermal aging of the vessels can be detrimental to their performance, it was recommended that the vessels be used for a limited number of cycles to be determined by additional testing.

A process for capturing CO{sub 2} from the atmosphere was recently proposed. This process uses a closed cycle of sodium and calcium hydroxide, carbonate, and oxide transformations to capture dilute CO{sub 2} from the atmosphere and to generate a concentrated stream of CO{sub 2} that is amenable to sequestration or subsequent chemical transformations. In one of the process steps, a fossil-fueled lime kiln is needed, which reduces the net CO{sub 2} capture of the process. It is proposed to replace the fossil-fueled lime kiln with a modified kiln heated by a high-temperature nuclear reactor. This will have the effect of eliminating the use of fossil fuels for the process and increasing the net CO{sub 2} capture. Although the process is suitable to support sequestration, the use of a nuclear power source for the process provides additional capabilities, and the captured CO{sub 2} may be combined with nuclear-produced hydrogen to produce liquid fuels via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis or other technologies. Conceivably, such plants would be carbon-neutral, and could be placed virtually anywhere without being tied to fossil fuel sources or geological sequestration sites.

Raman scattering activities and Raman-active frequencies are reported for the minimum energy structure of azafullerene C{sub 48}N{sub 12} at the B3LYP/6-31G* level of theory. Analysis of the vibrational spectrum shows that the most intense IR and Raman bands are those associated with C-C vibrations, and that strong IR and Raman C-N vibrations occur below 1400 cm{sup -1}. Together with the recently reported infrared, optical absorption and x-ray spectroscopies, a complete identification of this cluster should now be feasible.

The development of the transient collisional excitation x-ray laser scheme using tabletop laser systems with multiple pulse capability has progressed rapidly in the last three years. The high small-signal gain and strong x-ray output have been demonstrated for laser drive energies of typically less than 10 J. We report recent x-ray laser experiments on the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) Compact Multipulse Terawatt (COMET) tabletop facility using this technique. In particular, the saturated output from the Ni-like Pd ion 4d - 4p x-ray laser at 146.8 {angstrom} has been well characterized and has potential towards a useable x-ray source in a number of applications. One important application of a short wavelength x-ray laser beam with picosecond pulse duration is the study of a high density laser-produced plasma. We report the implementation of a Mach-Zehnder type interferometer using diffraction grating optics as beam splitters designed for the Ni-like Pd laser and show results from probing a 600 ps heated plasma. In addition, gas puff targets are investigated as an x-ray laser gain medium and we report results of strong lasing on the n = 3 - 3 transitions of Ne-like Ar.

The Heavy Ion Fusion Science Virtual National Laboratory (HIFS-VNL) is currently developing design concepts for NDCX-II, the second phase of the Neutralized Drift Compression Experiment, which will use ion beams to explore Warm Dense Matter (WDM) and Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) target hydrodynamics. The ion induction accelerator will consist of a new short pulse injector and induction cells from the decommissioned Advanced Test Accelerator (ATA) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL). To fit within an existing building and to meet the energy and temporal requirements of various target experiments, an aggressive beam compression and acceleration schedule is planned. WDM physics and ion-driven direct drive hydrodynamics will initially be explored with 30 nC of lithium ions in experiments involving ion deposition, ablation, acceleration and stability of planar targets. Other ion sources which may deliver higher charge per bunch will be explored. A test stand has been built at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) to test refurbished ATA induction cells and pulsed power hardware for voltage holding and ability to produce various compression and acceleration waveforms. Another test stand is being used to develop and characterize lithium-doped aluminosilicate ion sources. The first experiments will include heating metallic targets to 10,000 K and …

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Recently Ciuchini, Pierini and Silvestrini proposed a method for constraining CKM parameters in B {yields} K{pi}{pi} and B{sub s} {yields} K{pi}{pi} through phase measurements of amplitudes involving I = 3/2 K*{pi} final states. We show that complementary information on CKM parameters may be obtained by studying the phases of {Delta}I = 1 B {yields} (K*{pi}){sub I = 1/2}, B{sub s} {yields} (K* {bar K}){sub l=1} and B{sub s} {yields} ({bar K}* K){sub I=1} amplitudes. Hadronic uncertainties in these constraints from electroweak penguin operators O{sub 9} and O{sub 10}, studied using flavor SU(3), are shown to be very small in B {yields} K{pi}{pi} and B{sub s} {yields} K{pi}{pi} and somewhat larger in B{sub s} {yields} K{bar K}{pi}. The first processes imply a precise linear relation between {bar {rho}} and {bar {eta}}, with a measurable slope and an intercept at {bar {eta}} = 0 involving a theoretical error of 0.03. The decays B{sub s} {yields} K{pi}{pi} permit a measurement of involving a theoretical error below a degree. We note that while time-dependence is required when studying B{sup 0} decays at the {Upsilon}(4S), it is not needed when studying B{sub s} decays at hadronic colliders.

Adiabatic shear bands, obtained in compression deformation at a strain rate of 4000 s{sup -1}, in a pearlitic 1.3%C steel, were investigated. Shear-bands initiated at 55% compression deformation with the width of the band equal to 14 {micro}m. Nano-indentor hardness of the shear band was 11.5 GPa in contrast to the initial matrix hardness of 3.5 GPa. The high strength of the shear band is attributed to its creation from two sequential events. First, large strain deformation, at a high strain rate, accompanied by adiabatic heating, led to phase transformation to austenite. Second, retransformation upon rapid cooling occurred by a divorced eutectoid transformation. The result is a predicted microstructure consisting of nano-size carbide particles within a matrix of fine ferrite grains. It is proposed that the divorced eutectoid transformation occurs in iron-carbon steels during high rate deformation in ball milling, ball drop tests and in commercial wire drawing.

We introduce a coarsening algorithm for algebraic multigrid (AMG) based on the concept of compatible relaxation (CR). The algorithm is significantly different from standard methods, most notably because it does not rely on any notion of strength of connection. We study its behavior on a number of model problems, and evaluate the performance of an AMG algorithm that incorporates the coarsening approach. Lastly, we introduce a variant of CR that provides a sharper metric of coarse-grid quality and demonstrate its potential with two simple examples.

It is shown that empirical relations between the charged lepton spectra and the quark spectra together with a bimaximal or near bimaximal neutrino mixing matrix necessarily imply that there is a contribution to |U{sub e3}| given by {theta}{sub C}/ 3{radical}2 {approx} {radical}(m{sub e}/2m{sub {mu}}) {approx} 0.052, where {theta}{sub C}is the Cabibbo angle. This prediction could be tested in the near future reactor experiments. The charged lepton mixing also generates a less robust prediction for the angle {theta}{sub 23} and a small contribution to the phase {delta}.

The corrosion behavior of unalloyed Ti and titanium matrix composites containing up to 20 vol% of TiC or TiB{sub 2} was determined in deaerated 2 wt% HCl at 50, 70, and 90 degrees C. Corrosion rates were calculated from corrosion currents determined by extrapolation of the tafel slopes. All curves exhibited active-passive behavior but no transpassive region. Corrosion rates for Ti + TiC composites were similar to those for unalloyed Ti except at 90 degrees C where the composites were slightly higher. Corrosion rates for Ti + TiB{sub 2} composites were generally higher than those for unalloyed Ti and increased with higher concentrations of TiB{sub 2}. XRD and SEM-EDS analyses showed that the TiC reinforcement did not react with the Ti matrix during fabrication while the TiB{sub 2} reacted to form a TiB phase.

X-ray microscopy using magnetic linear dichroism of a zero-field-grown, multi-domain Co/LaFeO{sub 3} ferromagnet/antiferromagnet sample shows a local exchange bias of random direction and magnitude. A statistical analysis of the local bias of individual, micron-size magnetic domains demonstrates an increasing bias field with decreasing domain size as expected for a random distribution of pinned, uncompensated spins, which are believed to mediate the interface coupling. A linear dependence with the inverse domain diameter is found.

The Neutralized Transport Experiment (NTX) at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has been designed to study the final focus and neutralization of high perveance ion beams for applications in heavy ion fusion (HIF) and high energy density physics (HEDP) experiments. Pre-formed plasmas in the last meter before the target of the scaled experiment provide a source of electrons which neutralize the ion current and prevent the space-charge induced spreading of the beam spot. NTX physics issues are discussed and experimental data is analyzed and compared with 3D particle-in-cell simulations. Along with detailed target images, 4D phase-space data of the NTX at the entrance of the neutralization region has been acquired. This data is used to provide a more accurate beam distribution with which to initialize the simulation. Previous treatments have used various idealized beam distributions which lack the detailed features of the experimental ion beam images. Simulation results are compared with NTX experimental measurements for 250 keV K{sup +} ion beams with dimensionless perveance of 1-7 x 10{sup -4}. In both simulation and experiment, the deduced beam charge neutralization is close to the predicted maximum value.

The authors are developing x-ray and gamma-ray spectrometers with high absorption efficiency and high energy-resolution for x-ray and gamma-ray spectroscopy. They are microcalorimeters consisting of a bulk Sn absorber coupled to a Mo/Cu multilayer superconducting transition edge sensor (TES). The authors have measured an energy resolution of 70 eV FWHM for 60 keV incident gamma-rays using electrothermal feedback. They have also operated these microcalorimeters with an external active feedback bias to linearize the detector response, improve the count rate performance, and extend the detection energy range. They present x-ray and gamma-ray results operation of this detector design in both bias modes.

Shaped like a mailbox on wheels, it's been called a bioterrorism ''smoke detector.'' It can be found in transportation hubs such as airports and subways, and it may be coming to a location near you. Formally known as the Autonomous Pathogen Detection System, or APDS, this latest tool in the war on bioterrorism was developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory to continuously sniff the air for airborne pathogens and toxins such as anthrax or plague. The APDS is the modern day equivalent of the canaries miners took underground with them to test for deadly carbon dioxide gas. But this canary can test for numerous bacteria, viruses, and toxins simultaneously, report results every hour, and confirm positive samples and guard against false positive results by using two different tests. The fully automated system collects and prepares air samples around the clock, does the analysis, and interprets the results. It requires no servicing or human intervention for an entire week. Unlike its feathered counterpart, when an APDS unit encounters something deadly in the air, that's when it begins singing, quietly. The APDS unit transmits a silent alert and sends detailed data to public health authorities, who can order evacuation and begin treatment …

Eisenhower's Atoms for Peace speech in 1953 is remembered for engaging the world, and the Soviet Union in particular, in a dialogue about arms control and the formulation of a nuclear regime in which national and international security concerns growing from this unprecedented emerging and frightening new weapons capability would be addressed while tapping the civilian promise of nuclear applications for the good of mankind. Out of it came a series of initiatives, leading fifteen years later to the NPT, intended to allow the growth and spread of the beneficial uses of nuclear know-how while constraining the incentives and capabilities for nuclear weapons. The last 50 years has seen a gradual spread in nations with nuclear weapons, other nations with nuclear knowledge and capabilities, and still others with nuclear weapon intentions. Still most nations of the world have forgone weapon development, most have signed and abided by the NPT, and some that have had programs or even weapons, have turned these capabilities off. Yet despite this experience, and despite a relatively successful record up to a few years ago, there is today a clear and generally recognized crisis in nuclear governance, a crisis that affects the future of all the …